by Davida Lynn
Raven panicked. She reached behind her for the gun that wasn’t there. Cursing under her breath and moving deeper into the derelict structure, she found a window. Light shone through the broken frame, projecting a twisted image on the wall behind. She bent down and peered out. She could see the motorcycle parked next to hers, but the rider was hidden by the light. The engine died, but the headlight stayed shining on the building.
As she pulled out her cell phone, Raven remembered the first time she’d been out in the foothills. Cell service was almost nonexistent. Shadows danced across the wall as the rider walked past the headlight beam of his motorcycle. The maze of a building probably had multiple doors, and even though Raven didn’t know where the man was heading, she had to move deeper into the structure.
The biker’s boots crunched in the hard dirt and gravel. Raven moved into another room, stepping as lightly as possible. Through the door frame, her first step sank through the weak plywood. She lifted her boot out with slow care, listening behind her for the biker. Her breathing was rapid, and it didn’t matter how much she tried to control its pace.
She moved into the next room and her motorcycle boot came down on glass. The second she heard it break, Raven lifted her foot. Her head spun around, but the sound of the glass breaking was covered up by the steel door being shoved open. She took the chance of pulling out her flashlight. Keeping it low to the ground, she shined it through her fingers onto the floor. The large room was windowless, and the floor was covered in blackened, distressed, and broken chemical glassware. There was another door to her right, and she stepped through.
The floor was metal and hollow, and her first few steps rang out. Every movement on the floor was magnified. Raven had to stop. Fear overtook her as she realized she was trapped. She knew there were doors to other rooms all around her, but the further into the structure she got, the less light from the headlight came with her. As she heard the footsteps somewhere behind her, she put a hand over her mouth and slid down against the wall.
With only a small flashlight for protection, she waited. A beam of light shot past the room she was in. The biker had a flashlight, too. Raven closed her eyes tight, hoping that when she opened them, the nightmare would be over. Even with her eyes closed, she saw the room brighten as the beam swept past again. The footsteps were getting closer.
Someone from Las Vegas, she thought. Someone had followed her, maybe another team ready to go after the club once the bikers all got there. She had no idea what to expect.
She breezed a silent sigh of relief when she heard boots crunching over glass. The biker was heading in the original direction that Raven had gone. As long as he didn’t double back, she might be able to wait him out. The question that came to her mind was why? Why had someone come to the burned-out ruins of Beezer’s drug factory? Someone could ask me the very same question, she thought.
Somewhere near the entrance, there was a metallic creaking. At first, Raven thought someone else was inside the building, but it was the metal settling in the cool night air. The strange building seemed to breathe and have a life of its own. She didn’t want to spend one more second in it. The walls felt like they were closing in, wrapping their rusted, metal hands around her throat.
To her left she saw the beam of light again. The room with all the broken glass connected to the one she was in. Raven had two choices: she could try and make a run for the door or closest window, or she could try and fight. Raven didn’t know if she had the strength to do either. As the footsteps in the beam got closer, she moved to her left to back herself against the door frame the biker would come through.
She tried to time her steps with his. The beam shined through the whole room. Even if Raven wanted to run, it was too late. Her heart threatened to rip through her bones and make its own escape. The footsteps got closer… closer… closer.
When the biker stepped through, Raven sprang.
With one hand around his neck, she tried to pull him back over her leg and get him on the floor. The second she tried to move him, she realized just how spent she was. The man bent forward fast, flipping her over. Raven thought she would land hard on her back. She tried to prepare herself for the idea of getting the wind knocked out of her. Instead, an arm wrapped around her waist and gingerly lowered her to the floor.
“Jesus Christ, Raven. You trying to get yourself killed?”
The flashlight blasted Raven in the face. She put up a hand to block the light, a look of utter confusion twisting her features. “Gunner?”
He lowered the light. In an instant, Raven threw her arms around her man. “Oh, my God, I thought I was going to die.”
Gunner clicked off the flashlight and put his arm around her. “I thought you were, too, but I thought it was gonna happen at the bar. As soon as I got the call, I got scared shitless.”
They stood in the darkness holding each other for a long time. Raven’s heart slowed down more than it had since the fight started. Just being held by Gunner was a calming feeling that she desperately needed. She felt his steady heartbeat and his chest rise and fall with each breath. For a few moments, she was able to forget the horror of the attack and the loss of her brothers, and Gunner’s real brother.
“I’m so sorry about Trigger.” Raven’s voice wavered. “I’m just so sorry.”
For a moment, Gunner didn’t react. Raven wondered if he knew. If she had broken it to him like that, she didn’t know if she’d ever be able to forgive herself.
He nodded. “My brother went out just like I always knew he would. It hurts, but it’s what he would have wanted. He wasn’t for a family, or even a woman. He was ride or die.”
“Gunner, I… I…”
He put a hand on her hip. “You took off so fast. I didn’t get a chance to talk to you. I was just a few minutes behind you the entire ride. I’m sorry all this shit went down. I’m sorry this happened to you, Raven. I guess most of all, I’m sorry I wasn’t by your side.” Gunner’s words were soothing, and exactly what Raven needed.
“I didn’t stand in your way, but that doesn’t mean I supported you, either. This whole thing between you and me has been fucked up from the beginning. The sex, the angry hate fucking, the mind games. I realized something, Raven. I’m scared of you. I think I kept you at a distance, because it would be so much easier to walk away.”
Raven’s eyes opened. Her heart began to speed up again. She pulled away from Gunner. “What are you trying to say?” Fear began to creep up inside of her again. Raven didn’t like what she was hearing.
“Look, I’m not good at this shit. It’s coming out all wrong. Here’s the thing. I don’t want to keep you at a distance anymore. I don’t want to walk away, and I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure you don’t either. Jesus, I had to chase you halfway through the desert and into this meth lab to tell you that. I’m not walking away. I’m following you. Walking by your side. Supporting you.”
In the darkness, Gunner took Raven’s face in his hands. “Raven, I love you.”
Raven was speechless. It was the last thing she was expecting to hear, but deep in her heart, she wanted it. When she had visited Gunner at the strip club earlier that night, it had been on her mind. She was nowhere near admitting it to herself, let alone him, but it was in there.
For the second time in just a short while, Raven cried. Gunner pulled her to his chest, one of his hands stroking her hair. She sobbed, trying to find words. Any words would do, but she couldn’t get herself under control.
When Raven did speak, it was barely above a whisper. She took a deep breath. “I can’t believe you said that.”
“What do you mean?”
She laughed. “I just never would’ve expected that from you. Everything you said, the angry sex, the tension. I just… I just never thought I could break through that diamond-hard biker exterior.”
Gunner brushed away the tears beneath her eyes, “I guess I was just being stubborn.”
“I love you, too. I really, really do. As much
as I want to do something about it, we gotta get back to the club and fast. Vegas was behind the attack.”
“But Vegas is dead. He has to be.” Gunner’s tone betrayed his words.
Raven pulled Gunner through the building and back toward the light of his motorcycle. “Do you know that for sure? I bet the same thing happened to Vegas as Bear. He was out on the road, and someone called it in. Who knows? How he lived doesn’t matter. What does matter is that he headed back to Las Vegas and found some guys.
“He probably promised them the cash that was under the bar. We caught one of the attackers alive. He was Hispanic and from Nevada. Gunner, it makes sense. This wasn’t a biker club. That’s why no one we called knew anything about it. He went rogue for revenge.”
They weaved through the charred remains of the drug lab and stepped past the metal door they had both come in through. Raven felt much better outside. The building was filled with death, and that squeezing feeling on her heart vanished as she crossed the threshold.
“Jesus, Raven. You might be right. We gotta call Trask.”
She shook her head. “Gotta get back to civilization, first. No signal out here in the sticks.” She held her phone up on the off-chance that she might catch a few bars. It was futile.
Raven was on her bike before she finished speaking. She fired it up and dropped it into gear, twisting the throttle all the way back. As the back wheel kicked up rocks and dust, Raven locked up the front wheel. She spun the bike around. After Gunner did the same and both motorcycles were pointed back to Bakersfield, they took off.
As they rode side-by-side, Raven tried to shake the smile from her face. You’re gonna catch bugs in your teeth, she thought with a laugh. She could hardly believe it. All the animosity and tension between the two of them had left her feeling like nothing would ever materialize. She thought Gunner was a lost cause. He was one hell of a biker, and tougher than concrete, but until he opened up to her, Raven thought she had been wasting her time.
Despite the fury they rode with, the trip back to the west side of Bakersfield was one of the best of her life. She rode beside the man she loved. She would ride with him into battle, knowing there was nothing metaphorical about that thought. But she could feel exhaustion and weakness invading her body. Raven willed herself on, knowing everyone in the club was still in danger. They knew their enemy, but they didn’t know his motivation or his plans.
Inside the city limits, Raven saw Gunner pull out his phone. She didn’t know who he had called, but when he headed north instead of west, Raven followed. They weren’t going back to the bar—that much she knew.
After a few more minutes on the road, Raven recognized the San Joaquin Hospital. She followed him into the parking lot, and the two of them took up one parking space near the entrance.
“We needed a safe space, and I couldn’t think of a safer place then this. Let ‘em shoot us up. At least there won’t be a wait in the ER.” He let loose a sort of nervous laughter that made her think he was more serious than he wanted her to believe.
She wrapped her arm around him. “We got this.”
Gunner smiled and wrapped an arm around Raven’s neck. Together, they walked into the hospital.
Trask, Faith, and Captain were waiting for Raven and Gunner in the deserted cafeteria. The lights were dim save for one stretch of florescent glow just inside the doorway. The two stepped in, their hands off each other out of respect. They sat in the two remaining seats at the table.
For a few moments, nobody spoke. They just looked at each other. Some were relieved, others sad. Every one of them was exhausted.
Trask looked around and tapped a finger on the table. “Five. We lost five good men. I don’t want to point fingers, and I don’t want to blame. That’s not why we’re here. We are here to plan and to move forward. As we discussed things tonight, I want each of you to have those five men in your mind. They gave the ultimate sacrifice for the Rising Sons, so let’s show them the respect they deserve.”
Everyone bowed her heads, soaking in the silence of the room. Raven thought she would jump out of her skin. It felt to her like the world was moving in slow motion. She had information that they could act on, and as much as she wanted to pay her respects, time was critical. She looked around until the first head raised.
“It was Vegas,” she said. “He’s not dead. He got a group together in Las Vegas, probably planning to pay them off with the money in our safe.”
Trask let out a heavy sigh and nodded. “You’re probably right. I have no doubt the cops are watching us, but they didn’t do this to Bear. There’s no way they would dress up like bikers and attack our club outright.” After a moment, he added, “I should’ve killed him when I had the chance. It was stupid of me to think he’d scurry off and die.”
Faith put a hand on her son’s. “Don’t blame yourself for this.”
“I’m not. I’m blaming myself for not finishing the job.”
Raven looked to Captain. “When you went after Beezer, did you burn the place?”
“We didn’t burn nothing. There were six guys there, including the leader. It took us a little bit to find them all, but there wasn’t much of a fight. Three bullets in each one, and we were out of there.”
Raven nodded. “That’s what I thought. Gunner and I were back there earlier. Somebody’s been through and lit the place up. Probably trying to cover up the evidence. My guess is that it was Vegas. I have no idea what his endgame is. He’s not trying to set up a rival club, because all the bikers were hired guns. They were only out for cash and blood sport.”
“Do we know anybody—anybody in Las Vegas?” Trask looked around as he searched his own memory.
Captain nodded, his movements slow. “I know a couple guys out that way. Haven’t talked to him in a long time. One of them ran with the Dice, but I don’t know if he’s still with them. The other guy’s my ex brother-in-law. He’s a real piece of shit. My sister left him after the third black eye. I kicked his ass from here to the state border, so he’s probably not gonna be too happy to hear from me, but I’ll see what I can do. What do you want to know?”
It was Gunner who spoke of this time. “We need to know about Carlos Maldonado. It seems like Vegas has himself a manager. We find Maldonado, we find Vegas.”
Everybody nodded. Vegas was a ghost, and he would be hard to track down. Raven couldn’t think of a better idea. She was sure that Vegas hadn’t been one of the bikers that had attacked the bar. He was lying in wait somewhere between Bakersfield and Las Vegas.
“When does it stop?” Everyone turned to look at Faith. Her hair was in a messy ponytail and she had bags under her eyes. She’d slept as poorly at home as she did next to Bear in the hospital, and she had given up on looking even semi-presentable. “Who comes after us after we kill Vegas? Who’s the next one in line? I’m getting so sick of burying my friends and my husband’s friends. I’m already on the verge burying him. Whatever you do, whatever plan you come up with, make it stick.”
Faith was met with silence. Everyone at the table knew she was right. Raven knew it was wrong, but she was motivated by pure revenge. Revenge for Sam, revenge for Trigger, revenge for the club. With Los Bandoleros destroyed, the Rising Sons had no base of operations. A quarter of their members were dead or injured, and they were after an enemy that was as visible as the wind.
“We’ll do it, Mom.” Trask squeezed his mother’s hand and smiled. “We’re going to hit Vegas hard and make sure no one fucks with us ever again.” He turned to the group. “No change in Bear’s condition so far. We’re going to keep up the two biker surveillance team twenty-four-seven. Apparently, Vegas is smarter than we gave him credit for. Mom, I want you, Hope, and any other family members out of Bakersfield. I think everyone will agree with that, right?”
Captain nodded. “Things are already happening too close to town for my liking. I say send loved ones to the coast.”
“Can we get to the safe?” Gunner asked.
Raven s
aw where he was going and jumped in. “The scene is secured with tape, but I don’t think there’s anything that will stop us from digging down to the safe. Besides Bear, who knows the combo?”
